The invention provides an improved system for the incineration of refuse and the treatment of the incineration exhaust gasses.
The disposal of refuse by incineration is a well known process. In recent years, however, there has been increased concern about the atmospheric pollution caused by the exhaust gasses from such incineration. Today, any such incineration process is subject to rigorous state and Federal regulation.
Numerous attempts have been made to develop processes to incinerate refuse in compliance with government regulation. However prior methods have not been completely satisfactory from an economic standpoint and have not been designed to handle the incineration of certain types of refuse that pose special problems.
One type of refuse that presents a unique disposal problem is scrapped automobile and truck tires. Because of their negligible decomposition rate, scrapped tires take up an increased volume in landfills and such. Even when plowed under, the very nature of the resilient tires causes them to progressively migrate toward the surface. These tires pose unique health hazards as a tire's configuration is conducive to the pooling of stagnant water providing a breeding ground for insects and disease. Additionally, the fire hazard posed by such masses of scrapped tires is well known. Once a fire starts in such a mass of tires, the dense, acrid, and toxic smoke, and the intense heat make such a fire extremely difficult to extinguish. For the above reasons, as well as due to other health considerations, many jurisdictions are closing down landfills or at least forbidding the creation of new ones. Thus, it will be appreciated that considerate disposal means for scrapped tires now commands all the more attention, particularly in view of the several millions of such items as are discarded each year in this country alone.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to develop an economic refuse incineration and exhaust gas treatment method that will comply with all government standards and is also suitable for the disposal of scrapped tires.